Department of Education

Q: What are the training requirements for new board members?
A: Each newly elected or appointed board member or charter school trustee shall, during the first year of his or her service on any board, complete a training program prepared and offered by the New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA) which shall include in its content instruction relative to the board member's responsibilities under the Act. Thus, each board member/trustee who is newly elected or appointed must take a training program entitled New Board Member Orientation. See Training Requirements Chart at IA.

Q: How is "newly elected or appointed member" defined?
A: N.J.A.C. 6A:28-1.2 defines "newly elected or appointed board member" as a board member who: 1) has never served as a member of either an elected or appointed school board; or 2) a board member who has not served for 10 years or more and has not previously completed a training program prepared and offered by the NJSBA..

Q: When does a board member’s first year of service begin?
A: A board member’s first year of service begins when that board member is newly appointed or elected for a term of twelve months or more. Thus if a board member is newly appointed to a term that is less than twelve months, that board member’s first term of service has not begun and the board member is not required to complete any training.

Q: Are there training requirements for board members in subsequent years of service?
A: Yes. Each board member shall, in both the second and third years of her or his service on the board, complete a training program to be prepared and offered by the NJSBA on school district governance. Thus, each board member/trustee who is in the second year or third year of service on the board must take a training entitled Governance One: NJQSAC or Governance Two: Finance respectively. See Training Requirements Chart at IA.

Additionally, within one year after each re-election or re-appointment to the board of education or charter school board of trustees, each board member/trustee shall complete an advanced training program on relevant changes to New Jersey school law to be prepared and offered by the NJSBA. Thus, each board member/trustee who is in the first year of a subsequent term must take a training program entitled Advanced Training: Legal Update. See Training Requirements Chart at IA.

Q: How does a board member obtain the training?
A: The training sessions are sponsored by the NJSBA. Board secretaries and charter school designees should call the NJSBA Call Center at (609) 278-5217 to register board members/trustees for training. Board secretaries and charter school designees must also inform the NJSBA when new members/trustees are appointed and they leave the board.

Q: What action can the Commission take against board members who fail to attend training as required?
A: The Commission may reprimand, censure, suspend or remove board members who fail to attend training as required by N.J.S.A. 18A:12-33.

Q: What type of training does a board member/trustee have to take when s/he is appointed to fill a one-year unexpired term?
A: Since this is the board member’s/trustee’s first year of service on a board, s/he would have to take the New Board Member Orientation training. See Training Requirements Chart at IIA.

Q: What type of training does a board member/trustee have to take when, after appointment to fill a “one-year unexpired term,” that board member gets elected to a “full three-year term?”

A: Since that board member/trustee would have already taken the New Board Member Orientation training when serving the one-year unexpired term, s/he would would then have to take Governance One: NJQSAC in the first year of her/his “full three-year term” and Governance Two: Finance in the second year. See Training Requirements Chart at IIB.

Q: What type of training does a board member/trustee have to take when s/he was appointed to fill one year of a “two-year unexpired term” and then s/he gets elected to fill the remaining one year of the term?
A: The board member/trustee would have one year from the date of appointment to take the New Board Member Orientation training. In the second year of the “two-year unexpired term,” the board member/trustee would have to take Governance One: NJQSAC. If the board member/trustee is then re-elected to a “full three-year term,” s/he would take the Advanced Training: Legal Update in the first year upon re-election. See Training Requirements Chart at IID and IB.

Q: What type of training does a board member/trustee have to take when s/he was appointed to fill one year of a “three-year unexpired term” and then s/he gets elected to fill the remaining two years of the term?
A: The board member/trustee would have one year from the date of appointment to take the New Board Member Orientation training. Upon election to the remaining two years of the unexpired term, the board member/trustee would take Governance One: NJQSAC in the first year after election and Governance Two: Finance in the second year after election. See Training Requirements Chart at IIC.

Q: What type of training does a board member/trustee need to take when s/he previously served two terms (s/he already took the New Board Member Orientation training), took a few years off, and won a full term?
A: That board member/trustee was re-elected to a full term and is in the first year of a subsequent term. Thus, s/he must take the Advanced Training: Legal Update. See Training Requirements Chart at IB.

Q: What type of training does a board member need to take when s/he has been serving on the board for many years, has taken the New Board Member Orientation training years ago and is re-elected to a full three-year term?
A: Since the board member/trustee was re-elected to a full term, s/he is in the first year of a subsequent term and must take the Advanced Training: Legal Update.

Q: What type of training does a board member need to take when s/he was first elected in April 1997 and is currently in the 3rd and final year of his/her term?
A: The board member would not be required to take any training because s/he is in a final year of his/her fourth term. Should s/he get re-elected for another term, then s/he must take the Advanced Training: Legal Update.